The Japanese are exporting one of their greatest commodities — sleep. Or at least the idea of it. The Japanese are masters of the power nap, and at any time of day you can see entire extended families sleeping while sitting upright on the train. A raise of an eyebrow at each stop is enough to make sure the stop is not missed.

So it's not surprising that the Japanese have come up with the very smallest accommodation possible: the capsule hotel. For those of you who don't know, allow me to explain the capsule hotel. You know those sailboats inside bottles? The ones you look at and wonder how in the heck that sailboat got inside there?

Now, imagine putting a Japanese-size person inside a space like that, just long and wide enough for him to lie down in, with an opening just wide enough for him to squeeze in and out of. You could sell them as souvenirs in America.